Mindset
by KimiNinja03
Summary: After another failed mission Leonardo is feeling depressed about his skills as a leader and brother. Michelangelo, never one to leave his brothers alone when they're truly upset, tries to comfort him and in the process both learn that they have more in common than they realize. Angsty with bro-fluff!


**Hey everyone! Here's a little one-shot that I wrote and of course it has fluff/angst in it! Gotta love the brotherly feels! This one focuses on Leonardo and Michelangelo because I love their parental/little brother type of relationship.**

 **I set this time-frame between Battle of New York and Casey Jones vs the Underworld.**

 **Happy Reading! (This idea was inspired by a fanart picture I saw)**

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"Wow, we totally got our butts kicked back there," Michelangelo, the youngest, stated with a little nervous giggle. His older brothers, with the exception of Leonardo, gave him a flat look as they turned a corner and walked through the turnstiles painfully.

Mikey was worried because their mission had been a bust. A total ugly bust. They were meant to stop the Foot from obtaining some chemicals and more mutagen. The turtles all understood that the Shredder was ordering his cronies to obtain chemicals for whatever reason and it just wasn't good news that the Shredder was also looking for more mutagen. But they got their butts kicked all over the place by Tigerclaw and his robot Foot ninjas, who seemed to have been prepared for every plan Leo tried to come up with. It was worse when Tigerclaw insulted their team and took off with the chemicals and mutagen while _laughing_ at them.

They all had gotten hurt, but not enough for too much concern. The only thing they were worried about was getting home and letting their Father know they were safe. But for Mikey he was worried about something else. Raphael...he always fought with Leo if they had a unsuccessful mission. Mikey didn't want anything started. He hated it when his brothers fought with each other!

"Where do ya think ya goin' Donnie?" Raph asked grouchily as he grabbed the genius's bicep to keep him from going to the pit. When Donnie looked at him confused Raph scowled, "Ya need to get those cuts bandaged."

"I can do it myself, Raph," Donnie rolled his eyes but he hardly got the last word out before Raph was forcefully pushing at him towards his lab, "Okay, okay, Raph, jeez!"

Raph said nothing and didn't even look in Leo's direction. Mikey stood by Leo's side and stared up at his leader, watching how his eyes stayed a tad darker than usual and away from any of his brothers. That did not bode well. Leo was prone to have a strong sense of self-blame and he'd keep away from his brothers for awhile if this continued.

"Make sure you take care of your injuries too Raph," Leo said so low Mikey wondered if Raph heard him. But he was surprised when Raph slowed bu didn't halt, glaring over his shoulder darkly. Mikey eyes widened before he could try to open his mouth to stop what he knew was going to be a harsh insult... "I know tonight didn't go well but-"

"Shut up, Fearless! I can take care of myself! Don't talk ta me!" Raph hissed in a tone that had Donnie looking back with slightly wide eyes too. Leo looked somewhat surprised and somewhat not at Raph's tone but he still flinched the slightest bit in a way that only Mikey caught, "Tonight didn't go well? It's all yer fault, Leo! Ya can't do _anythin'_ right!"

Leo flinched shifted his eyes away from view. Mikey sighed inwardly, feeling a twinge of annoyance at Raph for his words. He was always so hard on Leo! Doesn't everyone see how hard he pushes himself to do good for them? Mikey looked up to Leo just as much as he did Master Splinter...probably a little more! Leo was like a superhero to Mikey!

Mikey wasn't worried about Raph because he knew that Donnie would also be mad at Raph for his words and straighten him out somehow in his lab so Mikey turned to Leo, who seemed to forget that Mikey was even there. Leo crossed his arms over his chest but Mikey thought it looked more like he was hugging himself.

"Um, Leo?" Mikey spoke up, surprised when Leo jumped and looked at Mikey with wide eyes before calming, "Don't listen to Raph...it's not your fault."

Leo sighed and looked at the ground, "I could come up with a good enough plan to complete our mission and we failed. Even worse, we got defeated and you guys got hurt. Sounds like it's my fault to me."

"Yeah well that's just _you_ ," Mikey rolled his eyes and added, "You know how Raphie gets when things go south like that and he's secretly worried about us. He's venting on you like he always does. He doesn't mean it bro."

Leo seemed to have relaxed a bit which made Mikey smile and continue, "I think you did a great job, Leo! You came up with like 3 other plans on the spot! I couldn't do that!"

Smiling just for a moment before it disappeared Leo looked at Mikey directly and sighed a little, "Thanks Mikey...I know what you're trying to do but you're wrong...I know what everyone really thinks of my leadership."

"Leo? I don't think you understand what I meant..." Mikey questioned, feeling confused and a little worried that Leo was once again looking very upset. Leo shook his head and studied the floor again.

"Everyone...maybe even Master Splinter...you all don't think I can really do this. That's why you all always make fun of me and make everything difficult on purpose..." Leo trailed off, turning his head. Mikey's eyes widened and suddenly he felt guilty. He knew he had a pretty fair share in making things difficult for Leo and he remembers how hurt his brother actually was that time they played "King of the Mountain" and Raph and drawn that "Lame-O-Nardo" on his katana.

Mikey frowned, "Sorry Leo, we just like keeping you unwound because sometimes you just get so serious and annoying! We miss the times were you could goof off with us. We weren't really trying to be jerks! We totally think you're a good leader!"

Leo looked back over at Mikey and then looked straight ahead. Mikey knew, at least, that Leo was taking all his words seriously and really thinking about what Mikey said, "That...means a lot Mikey...thanks..but I highly doubt Raph does. All he does is hate on me and give me a harder time than anyone else."

Mikey opened his mouth to comment of Raph's true intent when Leo continued, "He's the one that really makes me think I'm just a big joke. That I can't really be a good member of time team...I bet waits for me to mess up just so he can have something else to make fun of me about..."

Mikey's eyes went wide and his heart skipped a beat. He recognized how Leo was feeling. He felt that way all the time...all the time...always worrying about messing up...making them so mad they won't speak to him...Leo included.

"It's like he's watching me...like he's just...just..."

"..waiting for you to screw up..." Mikey finished sadly, looking at his toes and suddenly feeling unhappy.

Leo stopped his his tracks and blinked numerous times as he broke out of his thought process to look at Mikey, who was staring at his toes with the saddest expression he's seen in awhile. Mikey had just said something that was weighing on his mind...something he was about to say. His eyes widened when Mikey looked back up at him and smiled sadly, "I know how you feel on that one bro..."

Suddenly Leo felt warm inside...one of his brothers understood how he felt? How he thought about the burden of being leader? Well actually it makes sense that it's Mikey because...Mikey sometimes gets the blame for things that screw up even if he never did anything at all.

"I...um..."

"Sometimes you guys assume that I break everything or if anything goes wrong during a mission it's automatically "Mikey's" fault," Mikey said with twinges of hurt in his chest, he unknowingly brought a hand to his chest and rubbed it, "It hurts my feelings and I noticed that you guys practically expected a mission to go wrong in some way because of me..."

Leo frowned and turned to face his brother, "Sorry bro...I didn't know I was making you feel that way."

"It wasn't just you and i'm sorry too...for all the trouble I cause you. I didn't mean to make you feel that badly either," Mikey apologized with a small smile, feeling a little bit better at having finally told some of his true thoughts to his brother.

Leo and Mikey smiled at each other for a minute before they found their way to the pit and sat beside each other, turning on the TV while chattering away a little. Leo forgot about going to see Master Splinter and Mikey forgot as well.

"So...we kinda think the same, huh?" Mikey proposed with a smile as he looked at Leo, sitting cross-legged on the bench. Leo looked startled before he laughed a little.

"I guess we do...how about we make a pact?" Leo offered with a blooming smile on his face. Mikey beamed, feeling happy again with just that question. He loved it when he and his brothers shared a secret thing...like with Donnie and being in the A- team!

"Sure! What do you have in mind, Leo?" Mikey asked and Leo grinned at the happy look on Mikey's. He had thought about it when they moved to the pit and realized that Leo and Mikey had more of the same mindset than Donnie or Raph. This made him feel suddenly closer to his brother than he's felt in awhile. It was hard to spend real time with Mikey when he was always training and Mikey was always with either Raph or Donnie.

"When one of us if feeling down about feeling "useless" or a "screw-up" or anything like that, we search each other out and vent to one another to feel better. And also..I think that every afternoon after training we should go to my room and paint, because we both love to do that. You can paint pictures and I can paint haiku's or other Japanese arts."

Mikey blinked, thrown for a loop. He didn't except Leo to want to spend more time with him after training...he loved spending extra time afterwards to get more hours of training in. But he wants to spend time with him instead of that sometimes? "Sure! Yeah! That'd be amazing dude! Maybe you can paint some Japanese words for me! We could make projects together!"

Leo's eyes warmed as he watched Mikey getting excited. His little brother never ceased to amaze him. Just minutes ago he was feeling a bit depressed and guilty. But now he was content and even a little excited. Leo laughed when Mikey jumped up and hugged him from behind. He turned his head over his shoulder and grinned, chatting idly with him while putting a hand on his head.

Both blue-eyed turtles failed to notice Master Splinter, who retreated back into the dojo with a complete grin on his face. His sons were finally growing to realize each other's strengths.

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 **Yay! Leo and Mikey fluff! :D How was it? Did you guys like it? I look forward to reading your thoughts!**

 **Stay awesome c:**


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